Op chicago



Jan. 31, 1928.

' L. E. LA BRIE BRAKE bmnmme MEANS Filed May 11 192 INVENTOR M065? 5105MATTORNEY nunenn n.

Patented an. 31, 1923.

'IANY, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

" was LA BRIE, or 'soU'rH BEND, rnnrane., assionon TOBEN'DIX BRAKE coinA CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

Applicationfilerl May 11,

d This invention relates to brakes, and is illustrated as embodied 111an automobile ohassishaving a brake tor a front or other swivelledwheel. An object of the inven tion is to provide anefiicient buteconomical construction, by reducing the number of parts. T a I Havingthis object in view, the invention contemplates. the use of aleverarranged to apply the brake directly, instead of througha cam orthe like, and which, in the case of an internal brake such as shown inthe drawings, may engagethe free ends of the shoes,

or equivalent friction means, to pry them apart into engagementwiththedrum.

Animportant feature of the invention relates to the use ot'such a brakeon a front,

- or other swivelled wheel, without necessitating additional complicatedconnections, by

- so arranging the lever that, when the brake is applied, a part engaged,by the brake-applying means is swung from an idle position spacedtromthe-swiv-clling axis to an active posltion SllbStiLlltlflllY in thataxis, so that thebrake connections do not interferewith swivelling thewheels. In one desirable arrangement, the brake-applymg means includes asecond lever ifulcrumed on the axle,

.or otherwise supported independently ot'the wheel "knuckle, andengaging'the above-described part'of the lever which spreadsthe brakeshoes.

- It itbe desired to relieve pressure on the outer brake, orotherwisevary the brak-- outer, brake on a turn,

ing, in rounding a corner, the point of en gagementbetween the twolevers v or their.

equivalents is',in active position,not exactly inthe mathematical axisabout which the wheelswivels, but slightly at one side. If

the two, rigid leversfare used, the point of engagement issllghtly'o'utside the swivelhng axis in order to relieve the pressure onthe Other objects and features of the invention, including. anovelmounting for the le--- veigand anarrange'ment permitting the use ofinterchangeable brake shoes, will be ap parent. from the followingdescript on of;

one illustrative embodiment shown 1I1'tl16 21(3-,

. *F-igurel .is vertical section elevation; V

, Figure ,2" angles to Figure; 1, through the-brake, and;

companying drawingsfln' which:

the wheel," showingthe brake shoes in side is a vertical section atright ust inside 1925. Serial No. 29,369.

usual king pin, at one end of an axle 14. The trict-iondevice carried bythe knuckleiis shown asan internal expanding set of shoes, 1 including areverse shoe 16 anchored at 18 on a backing plate 20, and a forward shoe22 anchored at 24 and operated by circumferential movement of a servoshoe 26 against the resistance or" a spring 28. Shoes 22 and 26 arepivotallyconnected at. 30.- Anchor 18 passes through a relativelylargeopening in the web of. shoe 22, and anchor 24: passes throughsimilar large openings in armsf forining a forked end of shoe '16straddling the anchored end of shoe 22. A spring 32 urges shoes 16 and26 away from the drum.

7 its wheelon a knuckle 12 swivelled, by the Each of the shoes 26 and16, adjacentits" free end, is formed withfa, slot an, through whichpassesa stud36 carried by the backingplate 20. Each stud 36 serves to,center a spring 38, confined-between the backing plate 20 and a washerengaging the shoe,

4L2fheld" by a cotter pin 4A and a washer engaging .theshoe. The springsserve to position ,theetree ends o t'the shoes laterally.

A lever46 is arranged to engage the free ends of the shoes or theirequivalent, and is ,and a spring 40, confinedv between a: washer shownas'pivoted at 48 between flanges 50 on the end of shoe 26, and as havinga point order that-shoes 16 and 26' may be identicalandinterchangable,shoe16 is'also formed '1 with flanges 50. Thusrocking, the lower ofengagementbetween its ends with a wearplate52'secured to the end of shoe 16. In

end oflevertG to the right (Figure 1) will 5 tcauseit to pry the shoesapart to "force them againstt-he drunm e V 1 k e Accord ng to animportant "feature ofth'e inventlon, the lever 16 has a part, -such asits lower end, which is engaged by-the brake- ,i e"

operating means, and-L which is movable in Q applyingvthe brake from anidle position spaced from the swivelling axis,lto anactive p t on ubs ani l y; thetaxis, so that n the brake does not interfere with, swivellingt-he wheel in steering.

I prefer to operate the brake by means including a lever. 5st, supportedon axle l t or otherwise independent of the knuckle,

and which engages the above-described part of lever e6. ihe lever 5a isshown with a ball end, and lever -16 as having a flat surface engagedthereby, but any other suitable connection may be used.v

lVhen it is desired to vary the braking onv a turn, the point ofengagement of levers and 46, or their equivalents, isnot exactly in themathematical axis of swivelling, even when the brake is applied,i. e.,in active position, but is slightly at one side of that axis. Thediagram in Figure at illustrates the arrangement when the pressure onthe outer brake is to be relieved on a turn. k

In this diagram, V5 is a line through the swivelling axis (i.e., theking pin axis) K 'warallel to the wheel, Wit is a corresponding line inrounding a corner to'the right, and \VL is a corresponding line inrounding a corner to the left. L indicates the lever 5a in its activeposition, and C indicates its point of engagement with lever to.

Now it will be evident that, when the wheel is swivelled from a positionp-rallel to line V to a position parallel to'line l VR, point C tends tomove to CR that'is, away from lever L, to relieve the pressure on thebrake, which is on the outside of theturn. Then the wheel is swivelledto a position parallel to "NL, point C (arm 46) tends to move to CL,thatis, it crowds against lever L and tightens its brake, wliich is then onthe inside of the turn. Of course, the connect-ions operating levers 54:on opposite sides should be unequalized when this effect is desired.- 1

W hile one illustrative en'ibodiment has been described in detail, it isnot my intention to limit the scope of the invention to that particularembodiment, or otherwise I claim than by the terms of the appendedclaims.

1'. Operating means for a brake device mounted on a swivelled knucklerotatably supporting a drum, and comprising, in' cons bination with saidparts, a lever directly connected to said device and movable from I anidle position in which a partis, spaced from the swivelling axis to anactive position in which thedevice is frictionally engaged with the drumand in which said part is adjacent the swivellin'g axis, and meansengaging said part of the'le'ver to move the lever fromfidle to act veposition.

i 2. Operatingmeans for brake sho-es mount-' "prising,'incombinationwith said parts, :1

movable from an idle position in which a part is spaced from theswivelling axis to an active position in which the shoes arefrictionally engaged with the drum and in which said part is adjacentthe swivelling friction device mounted on a swivelled knuckle 'rotatablsu )ortin a drum. and

comprising, in combination with said parts,

a lever engaging the free ends of saiddevice and movable semi an idle toan active position to, spread said device against the inside of thedrum, the lever having a part moving from an idle position spaced fromthe swivelling axis to an active position adjacent said axis, and meansengaging said part of the lever to rock it to operate the frictiondevice. 7 I

l. Operating means for an expansibl'e triction device mounted on aswivclled knuckle rotatably supporting a drum, and comprising, incon'ibination with said parts, a lever pivoted to one free end of saiddevice and engaging the other free end and movable about its pivoted endas a fulcrum to spread said device against the inside of the drum, thelever having a part moving from an idle position spaced from theswivelling axis to an active position adjacent said axis, and meansengaging said part of the lever to rock it about its p oted end tooperate the friction device.

5. Operating means for spreading apart the adjacent free ends of aplurali v of frictionshoes arranged'within a drum r: atably mounted on aswivelled knuckle, and comprising, in combination with said parts,alever pivoted-to the free end of one shoe and enga 'ingthe free endofthe other: shoe, and l 'ng'its free end movable from a position spacedfrom the swivelling axis to a position adjacent said axis, and meansengaging said free end to rock the lever to apply the brake; I

6, Operating means for spreadin apart the adjacent free ends of apluralit of triction shoes arrangedwithin a drum rotatai y mounted on 'aswivelled knucl zle, andco lever pivoted to the free end of one shoe andengaging the free end of the other shoe, and having its free end movablefrom a position spaced from the swivelling axis to a position adjacentsaid axis, and a second lever supported independently of the knuckle andengaging said free end to rock the first lever to apply the brake. V

7'; Operating means for spreading apart the adjacent free ends of aplurality of friction shoes arranged within a drum rotatably mounted ona knuckle swivelled on an axle, and, comprising, in COHIbination withsaid parts, a lever pivoted to the free end of one shoe and engaging thefree end of the other shoe, and having its free end movable from aposition spaced from the swivelling axis to a position adjacent saidaxis, and a lever pivoted on the axle and engaging said free end to rockthe first lever to apply the brake.

8. Operating means for an expansible and contractable friction deviceengageable'with a drum rotatably mounted on a swivelled knuckle, andcomprising, in combination with said parts, a lever engaging theadjacent free ends of said device and movable about its fulcrum toengage said device with the drum, the lever having one end movable froman idle position spaced from the swivelling axis to an active positionadjacent that axis, and a second lever supported independently of theknuckle and engaging said end of the first lever to rock the lirst leverabout its fulcrum to apply the brake.

9. A brake comprising, in combination, a drum, a plurality of shoeswithin the drum having adjacent free ends, and a lever pivoted to thefree end of one shoe and engaging the adjacent free end of the oppositeshoe to spread the shoes against the drum, the

two shoes both being formed for pivotal ends and pivoted at its extremeouter end to the outer portion of one of said ends and thence bent toclear the inner portion of said one end and engage the inner portion ofthe other of said ends and thence continued to form an operating portionbetween the friction means and the center of the drum.

11. A vehicle having, in combination, a pair of swivelled knuckles, eachsupporting an expansible and contractable friction device engageablewith a rotatably mounted drum, a lever engaging the free ends of eachfriction device and operable to engage said device with its drum bymovement from an idle position in which a part is spaced from theswivelling axis of its knuckle to an active position slightly at oneside of said axis, and unequalized means engaging said parts of thelovers to opt-irate the brakes, the active j iositions of the points of;engagement bct'wccn said levers and means being so posik honed withrespect to the swivelling axes that the braking is varied on a turn,

12. A vehicle having, in combination, a pair of swivelled knuckles, eachsupporting an expansible and contractable friction device engageablewith a rotatably mounted drum, a level engaging the free ends of eachfriction device and operable to engage said device with its drum bymovement from an idle position in which a part is spaced from theswivelling axis of its knuckle to an active position slightly at oneside of said axis, and unequalized means engaging said parts of thelevers to operate the brakes, the active positions of the points ofengagement between said levers and means being so positioned withrespect to the swivelling axes that the pressure on the outer brake isless.- ened on a turn.

13. A vehiclehaving, in con'ibination, a pair of swivelled knuckles,each-supporting an expansihle and contractablc friction device havingadjacent free ends and engageable with a rotatably mounted drum, a leverengaging the free ends of each friction device and operable to engagesaid device with its drum by movement from an idle position in which apart is spaced from the swivelling axis of its knuckle to an activeposition in which said part is spaced slightly at one side of said axis,and unequallized brake-operating means including leverssupportedindependently of the knuckles and engagin said parts of thefirst levers to operate them, the points of engagement between thelevers in active positions being so positioned with re spect to theswivelling axes as to cause variation in the braking when the knucklesare swivelled.

14. A vehicle having, in combination, a pair of swivelled knuckles, eachsupporting an expansible and contractable friction device havingadjacent free ends and engageable with a rotatably mounted drum, a leverengaging the free ends of each friction device and operable to engagesaid device with its drum by movement from an idle position in which apart is spaced from the swivelling axis of its knuckle to an activeposition in which said part is spaced slightly at one side of said axis,and unequalized brake-operating means including levers supportedindependently of the knuckles and engaging said parts of the firstlovers to operate them, the points of engagement between the lovers inactive position being on the outside of their respective swivellingaxes.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

LUDGER 1* LA lfiltlllt.

Ill-3

